Of a birth and eternity
by Laser Lance 720
Summary: Helena was still getting used to being the Gray Lady. She was still coming to grips with the eternity that would await her when she comes across the young woman going into labor.


Written for the Quidditch League Challenge (Chaser One, write about a day someone was born, Prompts: Destiny (word) - Spitting (word) - "I think I've discovered the secret of life – you just hang around until you get used to it." Mahatma Gandhi (quote))

So I pieced together the math carefully on this one. So the year is 1002, which is near the end of the Founder's Era. This was a really tricky week for me. For starters, I kind of looked over the part where we were given the chosen years so whenever I started writing I didn't realize until after I started so I had to begin again. Here's attempt two on that front.

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>-oOo-<br>-oOo-

It was two years and Helena was still bitter over the fact of her death. She roamed the halls of Hogwarts, refusing to look into the eyes of any of the students as she did so. Was this to be her destiny? Trapped within the halls her mother had built? Forever stuck in the shadow of her genius. Then again, when was life ever fair.

The low sound of panting came to Helena's attention just a hall down. She had a feeling she should just keep flying passed, but curiosity got the better of her. Sliding through the stone wall, Helena found all thoughts on her fate pushed away at the sight before her. It wasn't uncommon for girls in their seventh year to spend part of the school term carrying a child. Many of the pureblood families pushed for their linage to continue, some not carrying to wait until the girl had the chance to graduate. This girl in the empty room; long black hair tied into a neat bun, and pale skin covered in sweat, was no different.

The girl looked up, blue eyes wide and frantic. She breathed heavily, holding onto the bulge of her stomach. "Please." The girl whispered. "Can you… can you get… someone. I can't… make it to the… hospital wing…"

Helena remained floating there, eyes narrowed at the girl. After several seconds, the ghost nodded and floated back through the wall into the hallway. Her eyes spotted the crowd of students milling about near the end of the hall. Floating towards them, Helena wondered what it was that she was doing. The matters of one girl was none of her concern. She should have wandered the other direction the moment she heard the noise, instead she was assisting.

"Excuse me." Helena spoke to the group of students in front of her. The four students looked up at her, eyes narrowed at the ghost that always ignored them. "I need one of you to head to the hospital wing. Bring back some assistance. And birthing equipment. Classroom Four J."

"Why?" One of the boys asked.

"Just do it." Helena's response was a mix of an irritated sigh and a full blown snap.

"We'll do so." One of the girls in the group nodded, taking the boy's arm in her hands and leading them in the direction of the hospital wing. Watching them leave, Helena figured her work was done and turned to leave. She could still hear the pregnant girl's pained moans and quickly came to hate the enhanced hearing that seemed to come with being a ghost. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she reentered the room with the girl.

Whoever she was, the girl was holding her own with this pregnancy. She was propped up against the wooden teacher's desk, her legs stretched out in front of her and head thrown back in exhaustion. At the sight of the ghost, the girl smiled and motioned her closer. "Did you… get help?"

"Yes." Helena replied. "I shall be going now."

"No please." The girl stretched her hand out. "Stay. I don't want… to be alone… in here."

Helena looked ready to leave despite the girl's pleading. She couldn't bring herself to do so in the end. Biting her lower lip, Helena floated towards the girl. "Alright."

"Thank you." The girl smiled.

"Don't think too much on it." Helena looked away. A pained moan escaped from the girl's lips, causing the ghost to snap her attention back onto her. Sweat coated her pale features. "So." Helena muttered, feeling highly uncomfortable with the situation. "If I am to be here, I should know your name."

"Tiana." The girl replied. "Tiana Tennasin. And you're… you're the Grey Lady?"

The ghost nodded. "Helena."

"Helena." Tiana smiled brightly, despite the pain in her eyes. "That's a lovely name."

The two were silent after that moment, neither knowing what to say in the situation. Tiana broke down into pain filled moans and agonizing cries. Helena could only float there, unable to assist the girl and unsure as to how she would even go about it. Eternity seemed pass by them, and the young ghost was beginning to wonder if all this waiting was what eternity would come to be like. After several minutes, the door to the classroom barged open, the Healers on staff rampaging into the room. A hearty woman stopped short to the girl, kneeling down and placing a hand onto her stomach.

"She's going into labor. We need to move quickly." The woman motioned for the young man and woman who had followed her into the room to assist. A stretcher was laid down, and the girl carefully placed upon it. Helena could only watch as the girl was lifted, and moving towards the door. No one in the room seemed to notice or pay mind to the grey ghost in the corner.

"Wait!" Tiana's voice carried into the air. She was looking towards Helena. "Please. Come with. I don't want… to be… alone in there."

Helena didn't speak, only watched the girl carefully. She was only a year or so younger than Helena had been whenever she had died. It was such a young age. After a few seconds, the ghost nodded, causing a strained smile to appear on Tiana's face through the pain. The company departed towards the hospital wing, Tiana's heavy pants and the head Healer's comforting words the only source of conversation. The students they passed in the halls departed to the side to allow the group to pass. No one paid attention to the girl in labor as it was fairly common sight. What was intriguing to them was the sight of the ghost following behind the precession. The Grey Lady was a rare sighting amongst the students. Helena chose to ignore the whispers and points towards her and was pleased whenever they arrived into the infirmary and Tiana was placed onto a bed.

Helena stayed on the sidelines, still unsure as to why she was there. The moment Tiana was placed onto the bed did labor hit her harder than before. Those in the room soon forgot about the sad ghost in the corner. Helena continued floating on the side, desperate to flee the scene. Whenever she tried, Tiana would plead with her to stay and Helena would do so.

After who knew how long, the cries of a child graced the air. Helena found herself floating forward slightly to get a better look at the child in Tiana's arms. The baby girl was the spitting image of her mother; the same pale skin and eyes. Even the nose was the same button like quality.

A young man came racing into the room in that moment, stopping at the bedside and taking ahold of Tiana's free hand. The two of them looked down onto the gurgling baby with care in their eyes.

Helena, being unable to take no more of the scene, floated out through a far wall. She found herself outside, the warmth of the sun having no effects on her. Moving further from the building, Helena tried not to reflect on the birth. No matter how hard she tried, the ghost couldn't get her mind off the babies face.

It was sad in her opinion. A young mother embracing her child for the first time, and here was Helena, trapped for eternity, a ghost in her early twenties. It just didn't seem fair, but then again, when had life ever been fair. She'd have to get used to it at some point, this being dead thing. She'd be around to see countless births and deaths. Generations would fly by, and she'd forever stay the same. There must have been some secret to this whole thing. In life, she'd always believed that should she hang on a bit longer, it would all come together. But in death… in death there was no real trick or secret.

She was just a ghost, forever on the sidelines. It took the birth of some nameless girl for Helena to realize that the two years she had spent floating through theses halls was just the beginning to the eternity she would spend here.

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>-oOo-<br>-oOo-

So there's no real death date for Helena. As far as we know Rowena Ravenclaw died in 1000, and sent the Baron to find Helena while on her death bed. So it's probably safe to say that Helena died about the same time, and maybe went to see her mother as a ghost, only to find her passed and just stayed at Hogwarts. It doesn't really matter. All that matters is that it's safe to say she was a ghost by 1002, wish would put her about eighteen, twentyish.

It was not uncommon for families to be started young back then. If you ever look at the dates on the Black family tree, it's safe to say they were popping out kids young. So a pregnant girl at Hogwarts makes sense to me.

I'm probably pushing the limits for this week's game topic, but hopefully I'm still in the clear. It didn't say it had to be an important birth, just a day someone was born. Hopefully I'm tiptoeing that line and am still in bounds.


End file.
